Union Hears From Potential Leaders

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From left, the Western Conference’s Chris Paul, Kevin Durant and James Harden during a practice for the All-Star Game.CreditBob Donnan/USA Today Sports, via Reuters

By Scott Cacciola

Feb. 15, 2014

NEW ORLEANS — The N.B.A. players union, which has been without an executive director since Billy Hunter was fired a year ago, gathered Saturday afternoon for a two-hour meeting during which candidates for the position gave presentations and answered questions from about 30 players, including the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony.

Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, who was elected the president of the union in August, called the meeting “productive,” although he and other members of the union’s executive committee declined to offer specifics about how many candidates appeared at the meeting, whether they were finalists or when a vote would be held.

“The process has taken time,” said James Jones of the Miami Heat, the secretary-treasurer of the executive committee. “We’re putting in the time to steer this union in the right direction in our search for effective leadership.”

Jones said one of the union’s goals over the past year had been to implement improved “policy infrastructure” so a new leader would be able to step in immediately and have a solid foundation.

Roger Mason Jr., a shooting guard with the Heat and the executive committee’s first vice president, said the union was “not in a rush” and wanted to be judicious. He said that more than 200 candidates had been provided by the executive search firm Reilly Partners and that the union had considered them all.

The union has been rived by controversy and internal strife for more than two years. Hunter was fired in February 2013 after an independent audit charged him with nepotism and mismanagement of resources.

Although the current collective bargaining agreement will not expire until July 2017, it would probably be in the union’s interests to have an executive director in place to coincide with Adam Silver’s first months as the league’s commissioner. Silver has already spoken about wanting to increase the age limit for draft-eligible players, an issue of no small importance to the union. On Saturday, Silver described the union’s lack of an executive director as a “hindrance to a certain extent.”

He added, “I’d love to have a partner across the table from me that had the backing of the entire players association.”

The union’s next step will be to distribute DVDs of Saturday’s meeting to the rest of the players in the league so they can form their own opinions.

“We’re going to make available this process to all our players in the next few weeks,” Mason said. “They’ll have the opportunity to get to know the candidates so this process remains transparent.”

The executive committee paid homage at the meeting to the players who threatened to boycott the 1964 All-Star Game over accusations of mistreatment at the hands of team owners. Bob Pettit, who played in that game, attended the meeting.

“We just wanted to tell them we appreciated them and want to continue to build a relationship with our retired players,” said Andre Iguodala, a forward with the Golden State Warriors.

SILVER CONSIDERING CHANGES In one of his first public appearances as commissioner, Adam Silver delivered wide-ranging remarks as part of his state of the league address, saying the N.B.A. would consider everything from revamping the replay system to giving the players a midseason break.

Silver, who took over for David Stern on Feb. 1, said he had been on a “listening campaign” in recent months.

“My priority right now is the game,” he said. “Focusing on the game all the way from youth league through college to the pros.”

One area where Silver said he saw potential room for improvement was the way in which officials reviewed plays. Silver said he could foresee the league having a centralized command center, where calls could be reviewed to ensure consistency and prevent in-game delays.

Silver also said that the league was “not close” to featuring sponsors on jerseys but that he believed it would ultimately happen. “It makes good business sense,” he said.

Silver opened his remarks by speaking about his attachment to basketball, about how the game bonded him to his father when he was growing up outside New York City. He acknowledged that he used to be a fan of the Knicks. “I’m not allowed to be anymore,” he said. “I promise I’m a fan of all teams.”

WALL LIFTS EAST IN DUNK EVENT The N.B.A. staged a series of competitions at Smoothie King Center as part of its All-Star festivities, including the dunk contest in its new team format. The East team of the Washington Wizards’ John Wall, the Indiana Pacers’ Paul George and the Toronto Raptors’ Terrence Ross topped the West’s Ben McLemore of the Sacramento Kings, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard and the Golden State Warriors’ Harrison Barnes, with Wall winning the honors of having the top dunk of the night.

The San Antonio Spurs’ Marco Belinelli captured the 3-point contest over the Wizards’ Bradley Beal. After both players finished with a score of 19 in the final round, Belinelli racked up a 24 in the tiebreaker, beating Beal’s 18. The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, a favorite to win, failed to advance out of the opening round.

The team of Chris Bosh, Dominique Wilkins and Swin Cash repeated as champions of the shooting stars competition. Lillard and Trey Burke won the skills challenge.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page SP2 of the New York edition with the headline: Union Hears From Potential Leaders. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe